18 Relationships are Complicated

Myra did not sleep for a long time and she woke up a few hours after she fainted. She realized that it must be the middle of the night, as all the lights were dark and she could not hear anyone outside either. Grumbling about her clothes, which were rather uncomfortable if one wanted to sleep, she quickly changed into something more comfortable.

Her thin leather pants and her top found their way into her dimensional pouch and she changed them for a simple black nightgown. Just as she turned around and wanted to crawl back under the blanket she noticed a pair of eyes staring at her from the opposite side of the bed.

Blushing even more now that she was aware that Aaron was not sleeping as she had expected, she pulled the blanket up to her nose to hide.

'He could have at least looked away! I wonder if he stares at every girl that's changing in his room.'

It did not take long for many more questions to form in her mind.

'Wait, how many girls have been in his room before? Does he have a girlfriend? I might as well ask.'

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Myra's whispered question was totally unexpected for Aaron.

'Why is she asking me if I have a girlfriend? Is she really interested in me? There should not be many other reasons why someone would ask that question right? Or is she just worried that being in my room might upset someone?'

It took Aaron longer to reply, than such a simple question should have taken him. "No."

"Oh, I see." Myra's smirk could not really be hidden, even if she tried to hide under the covers of the bed. She had never been a very obedient girl, when it came to taking risks or finding reasons to start an adventure of any kind. Having a boyfriend seemed to fulfill both of the aspects that made her curious.

What would it be like? A more responsible person might have taken a step back and slowly and cautiously approached a relationship. Myra had never been very responsible though, she always acted very spontaneously and often ended up landing herself in a lot of trouble. As no external influence really scared her, all of these new emotions were all the more interesting.

"Why are you asking such a question?" Aaron had many questions of his own. 'What is she aiming at?'

It did not exactly feel like she tried to seduce him, but even without even trying, Myra's embarrassed and shy attitude combined with her blunt curiosity made her even cuter in his eyes. There were no seductive stares, no lascivious movements and she didn't intentionally let him see a great amount of naked skin, just the curiosity of a young girl on its own had more than enough of an effect on him.

"I wondered what it would be like to have a boyfriend. Relationships are complicated."

Myra made it rather easy to understand what's going on, but at the same time her rather blunt and unexpectedly direct approach really made Aaron unable to answer for a bit. He would be fine with a more indirect way of telling him, what this was all about, but he was a little lost with the way she told him about her reasons.

"Well, I guess we skipped the whole friendship and dating steps, so I can't really tell you what it would be like, you'd have to find someone to try." Aaron did his best to remain relaxed and not think about it too much. 'She's just curious, you talk a little bit and then she will probably move on, like a little sister might ask her older brother questions or something. I still remember my own sister asking me similar things in the past.'

"So you think we have to start with dating first? It felt rather nice to hug you though." Myra was now definitely disappointed, like someone might be when their crush tells them that they should not take things too far.

Aaron took a deep breath, not believing what she just said. "So, you think it was nice to hug me." He replied with a disbelieving expression. 'Ok, maybe her intentions are very different from those of my sister, why in the gods name would you pick me of all people as a target!'

"Did you not like it? Wearing clothes was a little uncomfortable though, but those don't count." Myra continued with her round of questions as Aaron seemed to be lost in his own thoughts and would not answer.

What does one answer to a question like this? Yes? No? It seemed to Aaron as if both answers would be a trap that he wouldn't be able to survive. He was not as open and direct with his answers as Myra might be. He couldn't just tell her that it was already a miracle that he didn't just rip off her clothes and take advantage of her the last time she decided to give him a hug and falling asleep that way.

"I didn't dislike it, it's just that … you're a little young. It might be better if we get to know each other first." Aaron was rather conflicted. She was cute, even if he did not know her well enough yet to really say if their relationship would have a future, he could not deny that he was attracted to her.

Whenever he looked at her though, it felt as if she was way too young and pure and he was reminded of his sister, who had a rather bad experience before. Still remembering his little sister's heartbroken and traumatized attitude when her relationship did not work out at all, he did not want to take any wrong steps with Myra only to feel guilty later on about hurting her emotionally.

"Oh, that sounds fair." Myra seemed to have accepted his reasoning and closed her eyes as if returning to sleep. Aaron already wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, when she suddenly crawled to his side of the bed.

"Can I get hugs anyways?" she mumbled snuggling up to him like a kitten.

'No you can't! Don't drive my poor libido insane!' was what Aaron wanted to shout. He didn't really say any of it though. "Only hugs, don't take it too far." were the words that left his lips instead and shortly after Myra was already cuddled up against his chest.

It wouldn't be the last argument that he 'won' that way. Even what people would call a pyrrhic victory seemed like it could not compare to their arguments and the final outcome.

Aaron watched Myra, who was quickly falling asleep again. In the end she was still exhausted and it was not unexpected that she would need her rest. He did his best not to disturb her and for a time just looked at the girl. Even with all the troubles she might cause, he could not deny that Myra sleeping right next to him, gave his mind a sense of peace and belonging that he never experienced before.

--

Over the next few days and weeks it was not rare to find Myra sleeping in Aaron's room. She would find some excuse to stay over during the night and then they would go about their daily classes and training again the next morning. No one seemed to have noticed so far, or those who did, would not comment about it at least.

Alyn finally got some materials for a bow and soon afterwards Myra helped her to summon her own spirit. Even though Alyn planned to make it known that she had a bow as a spirit weapon during the tournament, she did not let all the other students know about it yet. Myra, Nell, Liam and Aaron were the only ones who were not only aware of the spirit weapon bow, but also of Myra's skill with summoning spirits.

Liam seemed to be the only one who did not receive a weapon spirit from Myra. Not wanting to disregard her friend, she taught him quite a little bit of magic theory that other students or their instructors had never heard about. It was not just different versions of spells, it was a whole set of ideas and theories that went against everything that was officially recognized about magic.

Different ways to control spells, ways to channel magic not through one's body but directly through the surrounding area, tricks to avoid fluctuations to be sensed and many more things that none of the other students would ever get to know.

It was not unexpected that the little group that Myra called her friends would skyrocket in power quickly. Liam and Nell, who were seen as average talents before, could now easily be counted among the top talents of their age group. Alyn had so far trained in seclusion with Myra and did not show off her prowess in front of anyone. No one expected the kindhearted girl, who was known as a priestess and had a status more alike to what one might call a combat healer, to secretly train with such an exceptional spirit weapon.

With Aaron being among the top before already and his interactions with others barely being existent, it was not as obvious how much he improved.

With their weapon spirits freed of their restrictions, their fighting prowess was quickly rising at a speed that was far beyond those other students who had no proper way to interact with these weapon spirits. Some still did not even have a spirit weapon yet as none of the spirit seeds accepted them, as such they had to rely on a normal weapon for the tournament.

Everyone was focused on the upcoming tournament. Not only would all the students have to show up, but many people from outside the academy would visit, as such they were all urged by their instructors to behave themselves during the time of the tournament.

When the day of the tournament finally arrived and all the students were standing in long rows on the training grounds, the exiting atmosphere in the academy seemed to have reached its peak.

Many were hoping to get a good position for the rewards, which were decent even for above average rankings, while some just wanted to show off their skills in front of the various powerful people who visited the academy. If they could grab the attention of one of the more powerful clans, let alone the attention of one of the great 5 clans, their life would quickly change for the better.

Myra did not think at all about the rankings. She was happily looking at all the different people who arrived, excited to see more about the various factions, while Liam explained the clans and the people they had sent in detail next to her.

The way the tournament worked was quite easily explained. As this was purely about fighting prowess, there were no limitations on weapons or spells. There was a magical barrier erected around the arenas, which would keep any harmful spells inside and protect the audience.

There was also a high level personal shield attached to a badge that the duelists would receive, which would place a shield underneath their own protective barriers. Once enough damage was dealt to it, it was a loss. Both mages as well as magical knights would usually cover themselves in a barrier of their own, reflect and redirect attacks or just dodge and evade.